- Japanese GP - Race
The FIA ran the race the right way - Lauda
Niki Lauda believes that without the benefit of hindsight, Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix was run the correct way.
The race ended with an accident involving Jules Bianchi, which left the Marussia driver unconscious and resulted in him being taken to hospital after the race. The race lasted just two laps behind the safety car before it was red flagged for the first time due to heavy rain. It eventually resumed and ran for 44 laps before it was called off entirely following Bianchi's incident.
Bianchi crashed at the same point on the track as Adrian Sutil and hit a recovery truck. Some drivers felt a safety car should have been deployed before rather than after Bianchi's crash, but Lauda said the FIA took the right precautions as events unfolded.
"In the end, the rain was not the real issue," he said. "The safety cars were put out and the race was run safe more or less to the end. It could have been run to the end without the accident, so the darkness I don't think was an issue here.
"The Sutil accident was way off the line and under normal circumstances we would not discuss it. The car was picked up right away and the corner where you parked the car was very close. From this point of view the decision was right, but if you ask me now in the end it was wrong."
Lauda said Formula One is not without its risks and that the Bianchi accident followed an unfortunate series of events.
"Motor racing is dangerous. We get used to nothing happening and then suddenly we all get surprised. We always have to be aware that motor racing is very dangerous, and this accident of today is a coming together of various difficult things. If one car goes off, the truck comes out and then the next car goes off. This was very unfortunate."
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